Popular reviews

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  Review by David Sims ★★★★ 1

  hoskins makes grumpiness just so sexy

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  Review by Sally Jane Black

  This is, of course, what you get when you hire actors. My main complaint is that Clarke Peters didn't get more time and presence, but when you have Bob Hoskins taking center stage, I will forgive even such an egregious error. It's not a feminist gangster noir, but it's still got empathy for queer sex workers--if this were a cop story, they'd be expendable dumpster-filler. Here, they're at least people. Hoskins treats everyone with his gruff compassion, so the patronization feels a little less patronizing and the embarrassing love story feels like a critique of men's fantasies. Hoskins takes the role and makes it human in a way that emphasizes that despite the occasional cliche, this is a personal story,…

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  Review by pirateneckbeard ★★★★★ 24

  Wow this is low key but riveting just the same. It never shows it's cards till the end but there are strong implications along the way. first off we get a perfect setup with the initial conflict with George(Bob Hoskins) at a door holding flowers and a box of chocolates only to be a failure to communicate and trash things which really tells multitudes about this character yet also gives us an insight that he is willing to change. The amount of times people criticize his intelligence and he agrees but then says tell me really is a remarkable character trait and shows his awareness and tenderness.
  Sorry back to the story that slowly feeds you but not too much…

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  Review by theriverjordan ★★★★½ 30

  To try to know another person’s soul is to be looking always through a one way mirror of perception. 

  Neil Jordan’s “Mona Lisa” is a noir shrouded by the shadows of the human heart. Shadows, cast by the oppressive walls and narrow alleys of insecurities and misunderstandings. The film stars Bob Hoskins as an ex-con, who, in the absence of all other drive and intention in the world, takes it upon himself to ‘rescue’ a London call girl, played by Cathy Tyson. 

  There is a magnetic opposition between Hoskins and Tyson in the lead roles. Hoskins, as ever, assumes the part of a man who outwardly presents so pathetically as to deny him the right to an inner life. Tyson…

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  Review by 🎄Ge❄️ff T🎄 ★★★★½ 2

  Wow, what an underlooked gem this was. Neil Jordan’s Mona Lisa is a engaging piece of neo-noir that despite Bob Hoskins’ Oscar nomination for Best Actor, seems to be somewhat overshadowed by similar films from the time. While it certainly may not be the best film of it's type, I'd still say it's one that's worthy of being rediscovered in some way.

  Geroge is an old-time London gangster who has just gotten out of prison having served his sentence. Refused by his ex-wife from seeing his daughter, he is reduced back to working under his old boss Denny Mortwell, who gives him a job as a driver for a high-class escort named Simone (Cathy Tyson). Not long after, Geroge finds…

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  Review by Ben Peterson ★★★★★ 1

  Let's make some grand statements, shall we? Mona Lisa is a top 3 all-time Neo-noir (with Chinatown & Body Heat). Bob Hoskins losing the Best Actor Oscar (after winning the Globe & BAFTA) is maybe the most egregious snub ever. That same statement can be said for Cathy Tyson not even getting the nomination for Supporting Actress (again after getting in at Globes and BAFTA).

  Sensual cinema, and with two big time complicated central characters. Big Bad Bob as a barbarous, yet affectionate driver of a clever, charming, and tough Cathy Tyson. The screenplay offers us some stellar writing throughout and, along with her performance, Tyson carves out a place for herself amongst the greatest femme fatales of all time. But it…

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  Review by Criterion 1

  The brilliant breakthrough film by writer-director Neil Jordan journeys into the dark heart of the London underworld to weave a gripping, noir-infused love story. Bob Hoskins received a multitude of honors—including an Oscar nomination—for his touchingly vulnerable, not-so-tough-guy portrayal of George, recently released from prison and hired by a sinister mob boss (Michael Caine) to chauffeur call girl Simone (Cathy Tyson, in a celebrated performance) between high-paying clients. George’s fascination with the elegant, enigmatic Simone leads him on a dangerous quest through the city’s underbelly, where love is a weakness to be exploited and betrayed.

  Our edition of MONA LISA is coming September 14, 2021. Visit Criterion.com to learn more and pre-order.

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  Review by Josh Gillam ★★★★ 2

  Bob Hoskins stars as a small time criminal just out of prison who begins working as a driver for a high class call girl (Cathy Tyson), but finds himself getting into deeper trouble after slowly becoming more and more involved with her, in Neil Jordan’s neo-noir crime drama with Michael Caine and Robbie Coltrane.

  Jordan takes us into London’s seedy underbelly for a twisty hardboiled thriller with a distinctively British flavour, taking classic tropes and filtering them through a grittier homegrown style to great effect. Shedding much of the glamour of its Hollywood counterparts, the film takes us onto the streets and into a dangerous twilight world that become a part of George’s new life, a place where vice is…

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  Review by Joel Haver ★★★★ 1

  The characters in this film act unpredictably and that is doubly true for Bob Hoskins’s George. Towards the end of the film George shoots any and all growth he’s made in the foot, unveiling the sadness laying beneath his actions. And while it’s frustrating to watch, and near impossible to support, it’s easy to understand. There’s something so utterly human about needing to be wanted and wanting to be needed, and the way we collapse into ourselves when we realize we are neither. At least not anymore. At times a romp, other times genuinely unnerving and incredibly dark, this was a fantastic surprise.

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  Review by Paul Elliott ★★★★

  Bob Hoskins deservedly garnered numerous awards for his portrayal as George in this movie, including the best actor award at the Cannes film festival, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA. He is exceptionally good at pulling out the unusual combination of innocence while also being prone to violence. Neil Jordan (co-writer and director) delivers an uncomplimentary perspective of London which is comparable to that of Martin Scorsese's New York in Taxi Driver. This movie is a reflection on infatuation, and it's a compliment to Jordan that it works equally well as a thriller and as a black comedy.

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  Review by 🇵🇱 Steve G 🇵🇸 ★★★★½ 3

  The 80s and 90s Neo-Noir Project

  Almost incredibly, this is the first Bob Hoskins film I've reviewed since joining Letterboxd.

  I'm not even sure how that's possible considering I've done over 2,500 reviews on this site, and surprisingly many of them are not of Mission: Impossible films. But I think if there was going to be one film that was likely to break that duck, it was always likely to be this one.

  Mona Lisa is the crime drama that arrived at a time when the British film industry was being held together by a few inches of parcel tape and a rusty staple, except for a few early-ish offerings from Film4. More than just being a great film, it…

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  Review by David James 🍩 ★★★★ 24

  Bob Hoskins is a sweet, frustrating, ultimately endearing ex con in a nocturnal freefall through love and loss on the streets of London. He's fresh out of prison, he stayed quiet and did his time, but he's not allowed back into the safe spaces of his former life; his gangster bosses want nothing to do with the man and his ex wife won't let him see his own child. He's given a miserable job for a judgmental thug: drive a high class sex worker named Simone to her appointments across the nighttime. He can't stand what she does, but it quickly becomes apparent why: he's falling for her, bad. He's latched on to this less-than-nothing of a hope and he'll…